This blog post originally appeared in Forbes Magazine.” View the original here.

In villages in the remote Brazilian state of Para, deep in the Amazon rainforest, running water is a luxury and paved roads are few and far between. But there is Facebook.

Earlier this year, indigenous groups fighting a new hydroelectric dam under construction along the Xingu River turned to the social network to vent their frustrations. The Xingu Vivo Facebook Page, which now counts 310 followers, logs their grievances against the project, keeping activists abreast of the struggle.

South America’s most populous country, Brazil is also emerging as one of the region’s most social-media savvy. Seventy-nine percent of Brazilian Internet users (some 78 million people) are now on social media, according to a newly released report from analysts eMarketer, fast approaching adoption rates in the U.S.

Plus, all signs indicate Brazil is just hitting its social stride. Average time spent on Facebook among Brazilians increased 208 percent last year, to 535 minutes per month. By comparison, global use declined by 2 percent during the same period.

“2 Super Bowls per week”

The numbers tell a compelling story. With 199 million people, Brazil is second in population only to the United States in the Americas. Over the last decade, the country’s middle class has expanded dramatically, growing by 40 percent and now embracing more than half the population. Meanwhile, the government has spearheaded a progressive push to extend Internet access across the country, with the result that nearly 100 million Brazilians are now online. It’s estimated that up to 80 percent of the population will have Internet access by 2016.

And the lion’s share of online time in Brazil – 36 percent – is spent on social media,according to 2013 comScore stats. Insiders chalk this up as much to deep-seated cultural factors as to access to new technologies. Facebook’s vice president of Latin America, Alexandre Hohagen, notes that Brazilians are inherently social people. “[It’s] common for someone to start talking to you in the elevator or in a restaurant just to start a conversation,” he says in a recent Wall Street Journal interview. TV soap operas, known as telenovelas, and sports are discussed constantly. “I always say we have two Super Bowls per week in Brazil,” explains Fabio Saad, online media director in Brazil for global ad agency DDB, in reference to the deafening weekly buzz around soccer matches and telenovelas.

Social media is also a uniquely democratic institution in Brazil. While the country has a notoriously deep divide between rich and poor, mobile phones give even underserved urban communities and remote rural areas access to social sites. Plus, potential for growth in this sector remains strong. Smartphone penetration is just 23.3 percent, and the country’s four largest carriers launched 4G services only earlier this summer. Domestic production of the iPhone has recently ramped up, as well, dramatically bringing down the price of Apple’s popular offering.

Social buyers

More enlightening – in particular for businesses serving the market – is how Brazilians are using social media to inform buying decisions. 77 percent of Brazilian social media users have a positive attitude toward shopping and buying on social networks, according to a recent study by Brazilian media consultant eCRM123. Meanwhile, four-fifths of social networkers use social sites to research new products and are more inclined to trust recommendations from social media contacts than from other sources, according to Latin American market research firm Oh! Panel.

Major consumer brands including L’Oreal, Coca-Cola, Nike and Brazilian bank Bradesco have lately launched aggressive Facebook campaigns to capitalize on social media’s influence, amassing millions of followers in just months. Nonetheless, digital advertising remains in its infancy in Brazil, accounting for just 10.6 percent of the ad market, compared to 19.8 percent worldwide. (TV, by contrast gets 69.4 percent of Brazilian ad dollars.)

Having the right social media tools has also been critical to marketers’ success. In Brazil, users log onto not only the familiar North American networks but numerous alternatives, including Orkut (until recently, the country’s most popular social site), social gaming site Vostu and popular question-and-answer network Ask.fm. Marketers hoping to tap into the widest audience have turned to social media tools that integrate with these diverse networks and help streamline campaigns. Brazil is among the top markets for HootSuite. Meanwhile, Facebook, Twitter and Google have all opened offices in Brazil, recognizing the importance of localizing their products and customer service efforts.

Of course, it also helps that all eyes will soon be on Brazil for two of the biggest media events on the planet. The 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Summer Games will put an unprecedented spotlight on Brazil, with a predictably unprecedented uptick in ad spending on social media and other channels. Considering, too, that the majority of Facebook users in Brazil are still under 24, it would seem that social media usage – slowing elsewhere in the developed world – will continue to ride Brazil’s rising tide in the years ahead.

Written by

Ryan HolmesRyan is Hootsuite's CEO. He is a regular contributor to outlets such as Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and LinkedIn’s Influencer. He writes about social media, technology trends, and entrepreneurialism.

in many of the articles I read Google+ seems strangely absent as the choice of business to engage customers thru social media yet hangouts,sparks,etc. seem perfect vehicles. What do you think about India,people may be poor but everyone owns a cell phone? Great article. Cassie

Interesting perspective. I never would have guessed Brazil to be the next big movement in social, but it makes sense! And yeah, the fact that the World Cup and Olympics are about to be there certainly is helping there cause. It will be interesting to see the effects those two events have on not only social within Brazil, but their place in social on an international level.

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